The project:
Teaching staff how to use bat detectors will be one of the central components of the bat project devised by the National Trust and Banrock Station. Bats use high-frequency signals that humans can't hear to build up a mental image of their surroundings in a system known as echolocation. Bat detectors niftily make these sounds audible to humans, which allows users to work out what species they're listening to, as well as learning vital information about the ways that bats use their habitats.
The National Trust plans to train staff to use the detectors – and then get the staff to train local volunteers who want to help out too. The information can then be used to build up a much clearer picture of the bats that live on National Trust land, giving staff useful clues about how to improve bat habitats.
If this project wins the higher funding from Banrock Station:
The extra money would be used to start a tracking programme focused on individual bats to gather even more detailed information. Armed with this, the staff and people from the local communities hope to roll out a whole programme of environmental improvements, like meadow planting and scrub clearance. Simple measures, such as working with tenant farmers to reintroduce grazing animals, can create a much better mix of invertebrates for bats to eat.
Bat facts:
Bats vary in size: the bumblebee bat (found in western Thailand) is the smallest mammal in the world, while flying foxes (mainly Asia, Australia) have a 1 metre wingspan
The vast majority are fruitarians or insectivores
There are 18 species in the UK, all of which are small and eat insects
Almost all are nocturnal and retire to their roost during the day (and to hibernate)
Bats are most often seen at dusk on summer evenings, emerging from their roosts in buildings, trees or caves
In search of insect food, they often fly at the edge of woods and over water – lakes, rivers and canals
In urban areas, parks and commons are the best places to spot bats
Daubenton's bats can fish insects from the surface of ponds with their feet or tail
The brown long-eared bat has super-sensitive ears that can pick up the sound of a ladybird walking on a leaf
What the experts say:
"Bats can be especially vulnerable during the hibernation period," says David Thompson, coast and countryside manager for the National Trust in Northern Ireland. "If, for some reason, their roost is disturbed and they are forced outside then sometimes they will just succumb to the cold."
